With permission from CapitolHillCitizen.com

A friend posed a question — why so much focus on Israel when there are so many pressing crises around the world, like the Sudan, largely forgotten?

A worthy question, as dire straits expand from deadly political conflicts and authoritarian, corrupt governments to include climate impacts and crop failures.

Attention should be paid.

While US policies and actions have played undeniable roles in some disasters, like Libya and Somalia, Israel’s long occupation and brutal subjugation of Palestinians stands apart.

Here’s why.

No other country enjoys but a fraction of US patronage that Israel does. Yet it repays America by undermining our government and political processes. Could any other country get away with its lobbyists announcing a hundred million dollars and more to defeat critics in Congress — even offering $20 million to primary one and seeking, with alarming success, to nullify Americans’ 1st Amendment freedoms?

The latter is done with compliant federal and state legislators seeking to twist language and devise laws as draconian as they can get away with.

Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD) got that rolling. In 2017 he tried to pass fines up to a million dollars and prison sentences up to twenty years for advocating Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS). Attempting to crush Americans exercising their First Amendment, at the behest of a foreign power, is a stark betrayal. Censure? Expulsion? Senator Chuck Schumer made Cardin chair of Foreign Relations when Senator Bob Menendez, his Israeli lobby largess second only to Biden’s, flamed out.

On July 24th Cardin sat behind Bibi during his address to a joint session of Congress, joining bought and paid for know-nothings who rose and genuflected with each lie. Good God, what kind of moral cretins have we elected?

In lockstep are billionaire bullies, Grand Inquisitors incarnate, threatening to wreck educations and careers of students with strong moral beacons many of them American Jews because their views differ from the Israeli government’s narratives. Privileged people with the influence extreme wealth conveys seeking to hamstring young people starting out. Sociopaths or psychopaths, these bullies? A wavy line.

One marvels as Biden Administration spokespersons freely shred their reputations, speaking out of both sides of their mouths. Likely auditioning for the bullies, or those who service them, credibility need not apply.

It is heartening to march in protest, to see American Jews of all ages getting along famously with Palestinians and protestors of all backgrounds. Do political chumps calling them anti-semitic realize how comical they appear?

Much of the world sees America’s claimed ideals in bizarre refraction, twisted to undermine international law and to continue carte blanche support of a violent eight-decade-long land theft underpinned by supremacist, racist beliefs. Now the world sees us as complicit, not just in slow motion ethnic cleansing, but an undeniable genocide in high gear.

A quick but-for test. Could Israel do this but for the US? The whole world knows that answer.

The British medical journal The Lancet recently estimated the real Palestinian death toll, considering those mashed under rubble and indirect deaths from destruction of medical facilities and public infrastructure, might exceed 186,000, or 8 percent of Gaza’s pre-war population of 2.3 million.

How does one count when two million have been displaced, their homes destroyed, with weaponry including US bombs each packing a ton of powerful explosives? Past conflicts, The Lancet‘s study noted, have had indirect deaths ranging from three to fifteen times the number of direct deaths, so the real toll could skyrocket.

UN-backed experts recently estimated over a half-million Palestinians face imminent starvation. Ethnic cleansing is well-underway in the West Bank, from violent settlers backed by IDF and Israeli police, and children again among the targets.

The Fourth Estate is supposed to push back on such mayhem. But one example after another shows much of the mainstream compromised, finding ways to avoid reporting the full horror. Here again, the big money figures in, easily manipulating increasingly skittish journalists as journalism job prospects diminish.

The IDF confirmed there was a “death before capture” Hannibal Directive on October 7. Hear much of that, or of the thousands of Palestinian prisoners, almost all without trial, kept in dire conditions, including torture, before the October 7th attack? Or that Netanyahu earlier addressed the UN while showing a map of greater Israel absent Palestinian Territories? Was Hamas, always cultivated and indirectly supported by Israel to avoid negotiating a two-state solution, baited as Israel sought an excuse to drive out Palestinians?

While the US supplies the vast majority of Israel’s weapons, Israel has itself become a major arms purveyor, its infernal creations demonstrated on unarmed civilians in Gaza.

Israel has also become a major force moving parts of the world into a surveillance state, selling technology to authoritarians around the world seeking to spy on dissidents, political opponents and journalists. One client was Saudi Arabia, using Israeli tech to spy on associates of Saudi critic and Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, before dismembering him. It’s not for nothing Israel cozies up to far right governments. They have common aims.

The more extreme those in the US Congress are, the more Israel seeks them out. AIPAC backed scores of Republican Congressmen and candidates who opposed certifying the 2020 Presidential Election. Yet that lobby isn’t required to register as a foreign agent. Why no foreign influence alarms from agencies tasked with government integrity?

As a guest of Israel in 1999, I broke bread with Moshe Katsav, Netanyahu’s outgoing Minister of Tourism. Katsav told me Palestinians are their “N-words,” sneering at the actual word. He later became President of Israel. One top Israeli official after another has expressed supremacist viewpoints, using terms like cancers and cockroaches, denigrating Palestinians, making them “the other,” as relentless as propaganda penned by Goebbels.

Any persons of color in Congress-looking at you Hakeem Jeffries, one of the largest recipients of Israeli lobby largess-taking money while ignoring galloping racism aren’t worth their salt.

If this entire essay were an abbreviated list, it would only scratch the surface. No matter how damped down the full picture is in the mainstream media, no matter how many Palestinian journalists Israel slaughters to stop those bearing witness to atrocities, no matter how many UN employees and their family members are murdered-over 366-the depravities escape Israel’s grasp.

Israel does its damnedest to pull America into the abyss as its protector, one with nothing to lose by staying the hellish course. But the US has everything to lose as it earns pariah status in the eyes of much of the world.

America’s “brand” is in tatters.

In a 1973 meeting Biden described as “one of the most consequential” of his life, Prime Minister Golda Meir told him the “Palestinian nation” did not exist any more than the “Palestinian people.” Moreover, she could not “forgive the Palestinians for forcing (Israelis) to kill their children.”

Did that give Biden pause, Meir’s telegraphing what was to come, what was already served up? A smorgasbord of horrid indignities. Violent land grabs by lunatics waving real estate deeds from God. Restricting calorie counts so children lived but did not flourish to their potential. Periodic lethal “mowing the lawn” to terrorize civilians. Snipers greeting non-violent protests in Gaza with competitions to blow apart knees, crippling even children and medical personnel rushing to attend them.

Does it give Biden pause now, when Israel’s long-held intentions are laid bare? Children no longer just on minimized calories but starved to death by design? Destruction of water supplies and cultivation of conditions of disease, even the polio specter rising?

Does he consider the karma payback for forcing upon his countrymen complicity with child murderers? With child torturers? What torture is greater than forced starvation and infliction of disease?

Perhaps denying antibiotics and anesthesia to orphaned children having shrapnel removed from shattered eyes, having limbs amputated? Shaken brains from repeated shock waves of massive bombs?

All the while arresting, torturing, and murdering the brave surgeons and medical personnel struggling to alleviate children’s suffering. We know not just from doctors but from IDF soldiers that small children are also targets. As noted, the damnable acts would exceed this space.

Golda gave Biden a glance at the systematic dehumanization of Palestinians early on.

One cannot help but wonder if cognitive dissonance between good Catholic Joe and his alter-ego, a self-proclaimed proud Zionist, hastened the disconnects in his mind. Even after Biden helped waltz the country into the disastrous invasion of Iraq, could he have imagined he’d finish his long public career acquiring the moniker Genocide Joe? That would crumble many of even the most carefully constructed self-images. Take note, Kamala Harris.

And what of damage to Americans’ self-images, as the horror seeps through the blood-brain barrier?

Nothing would delight Netanyahu more than Trump’s return, beholden again to Adelson cash.

No other country has enjoyed anywhere near the US patronage that Israel has. Yet it repays America by undermining our government and political processes. Could any other country get away with announcing a hundred million dollars and more to defeat critics in Congress and seeking, with alarming success, to nullify Americans’ 1st Amendment freedoms?”

In his intriguing book SpyFail, James Bamford, long our foremost investigative journalist on intelligence agencies, and a writer for The Nation, credibly revealed that a foreign power conducted espionage to benefit the 2016 Trump campaign. And that the foreign power was Israel. One would expect a thunderclap across Washington. Instead, crickets. Perhaps it roughed up too many pet media and political narratives. Even Hillary kept mum. That’s a fright.

When the International Criminal Court indictments, which included Hamas leaders as well as Netanyahu and Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant, came down, the press releases from a number of members of Congress, both parties, decried the “equivalence” of it and condemned the ICC. Politicians from Adam Schiff to Tim Scott used almost identical phrasing and talking points. AIPAC’s puppet strings are everywhere, as visible as those on the satirical puppets of the 2004 film Team America: World Police.

Institutional memory in Washington, both of Congress and of media, apparently undergoes periodic lobotomies.

In 2002, Netanyahu gave testimony to a Congressional committee that if we didn’t invade Iraq, Saddam Hussein would supply nukes to terrorists around the world. Bibi also predicted an invasion would bring a flowering of democracy throughout the region, including in Iran.

Anyone thinking the invasion of Iraq was a grand idea should look up studies by the Watson Institute at Brown University. They can only shock and awe, and dismay. Four or five million dead from direct and indirect impacts, by any measure a rambling holocaust. Not over. We’re saddled with a federal price tag of, according to the Watson Institute, over $8 trillion for post 9/11 wars, which continues to limit our national priorities.

How many in Congress who clamored for Bibi’s wisdom and counsel are aware of a speech he gave in 2008 to Bar Ilan University? As reported by the Israeli newspaper Ma’ariv, Bibi said, “We are benefiting from one thing, and that is the attack on the Twin Towers and Pentagon, and the American struggle in Iraq.” According to the newspaper account, Netanyahu then said that these events “swung American public opinion in our favor.”

His speech continued a theme when Bibi, then the former Prime Minister, was asked right after the 9/11 attack what it meant for US-Israeli relations. As reported in The New York Times, Bibi’s first reply was “It’s very good.” A pal, his concern for his American benefactors always paramount.

Washington has become a company town. Our military/industrial complex—Eisenhower had originally added congressional—is our company. Those profiting, greased by America’s uniquely styled legalized bribery via campaign finance, were certainly capable of engineering the worst foreign policy disaster since Vietnam, without Bibi’s assistance.

But in another but-for, it’s arguable it might not have happened without Bibi and his American cronies in high positions in the George W. Bush Defense Department, particularly Paul Wolfowitz, Richard Perle, and Douglas Feith.

I recently spoke with Dennis Fritz, a retired Air Force command chief master sergeant and author of a remarkable book fresh off the press, Deadly Betrayal, The Truth About Why the United States Invaded Iraq.

Short and to the point, with Pentagon redactions visible as intriguing puzzles, it’s one of those books one wishes would be assigned reading for Congress. Fritz wrote it for two reasons. First, that military men and women who paid a high price, often a terrible price, for participating in the invasion, and their families, could understand how the tragedy came about, devoid of the lies they were told at the time. And two, to sound an alarm that the same interests that pushed that invasion now want the US to go to war with Iran.

Fritz says that Wolfowitz, Perle and Feith were all both neo-cons and Zionists. A double whammy. They were already planning on going to war before 9/11. Fritz’s past work included reviewing and declassifying relevant documents in the Pentagon, ironically in part for a book by Feith, who is described as the architect of the rationale for going to war, including talking points and making the case to convince George Bush. Fritz believes the primary interest of this trio was always first and foremost Israel’s agenda. In Fritz’s view that was prioritized over the best interests of the US. Fritz says these three were part of a long-range plan to take down Iraq, Syria and Iran, ultimately forcing Palestinians to settle solely on Israel’s terms.

Though more Americans died in Vietnam, medical intervention improved considerably by the Forever Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Consequently, of the over 100,000 who were maimed, many who otherwise would have died survived with terrible and lasting wounds that require ongoing care and staggering expense.

Fritz believes all of that sadness, and the horrific collateral damage to those in other countries, might have been avoided but for the zealots driving the war. Those are among the reasons Israel deserves so much more attention now, with urgency. For most, Forever Wars don’t work out that well. In the shorter term, are Americans really on board with genocide? Can an apartheid foreign power really purchase our government so cheaply?

Here’s a recent interview by author: https://www.laprogressive.com/foreign-policy/riyad-mansour.

With permission from Capitol Hill Citizen, CapitolHillCitizen.com

The opinions expressed here are solely the author’s and do not reflect the opinions or beliefs of TravelingBoy.com or LA Progressive.

The post Why Israel? appeared first on Traveling Archive.

To see US Presidents and their Pets, Part I, visit Presidents and Pets: A T-Boy Odyssey Into Why They Loved One Another. For Part II, see Pet Owners Who Love Their Pets: Precious Pix, which includes many photographs of owners and their pets with uplifting texts.

Our first president, General George Washington, never lived with pets in the White House – it was not completed until the administration of our second president, John Adams. President John Adams is credited with owning the first White House Presidential Pets: two mixed breed dogs, named Juno and Satan. John Adams’ tenure in the White House was short-lived (he lost reelection later that year), but many dogs and cats have served as First Pets ever since.

Abraham Lincoln and Fido

Like Barron, Rover and Spot, the name Fido has long been a popular one to name a pet dog. The birth of the name was coined by an English language newspaper, asking for help, finding a small white Greyhound with a Collar, who answers to the name of ‘Fido.‘ But the popularity of the name started in the US during Abraham Lincoln’s life in Springfield, Illinois. Five years before becoming the 16th president of the US, Lincoln was a victim to many episodes of depression and Fido helped to relieve him from the pain.

Throughout his childhood and into his presidential years, Abraham was kind to animals and always made time for his pets. Fido is taken from the Latin word “Fidus,” which means, always faithful, instilling a similar sense of loyalty. Semper Fidelis (also from “the faithful”) is the motto of every US Marine. It is an eternal and collective commitment to the success of our battles, the progress of our Nation, and the steadfast loyalty to the fellow Marines we fight alongside. Semper Fidelis was also the motto of my US Marine Corp father, Louis Boitano, who participated in D-Day: Battle of Iwo Jima and D-Day: Battle of Okinawa. I still remember his words today when I was a child: Eddie, You see a lot of guys today sitting around playing video games and talking about battles, but I doubt they‘ve experienced a ‘real’ battle.

Fido didn’t get to live in the White House. Instead, he stayed in Springfield, Illinois. Sady, both Lincoln and Fido met a similar demise, both assassinated in different venues and with different weapons. Lincoln took a bullet hole in the back of his head, by the culprit John Wilkes Booth at Ford Theater in Washington DC, and Fido took a knife deep into his gut, by a drunken culprit on a derelict porch in Springfield. Fido would become euphoric upon seeing other people, and had an excitable tradition of standing on his two back legs and embracing them with his two front legs, leaving his stomach vulnerable to attacks. But the drunken vagrant took exception to this; why should a mongrel mutt bother me when I’m in a drunken bliss? Apparently, Fido survived the initial attack and managed to run away, but was discovered months later in his deathbed below a dilapidated shack.

Thomas Jefferson, our third US President (In office 1801-1809) was the second US President to maintain a farm, after George Washington.

Dick was Jefferson’s favorite of his four mockingbirds; Bergère and Grizzle were shepherd dogs from France; two grizzly bear cubs were gifted from Captain Zebulon Pike; Caractacus was a horse named after a 1st-century British chieftain. Beginning in 1807, the president bred sheep from, Four of the most remarkable varieties. By spring 1808, there were nearly 40 sheep grazing at the president’s house.

William Henry Harrison served the shortest presidential term in history, dying 32 days after his March 4, 1841 inauguration, but still had the energy to own two pets; a cow name Sukey and a goat, whose name is still unknown. For now, let’s call him Ringo.

Franklin Pierce made history when his miniature teacup Japanese Chin dog was part of a gift exchange with Japan following the Perry Expedition.

President LBJ owned Him and Her, that is the beagles, Edgar and Freckles. Yuki was a mongrel dog, famous for “singing duets” (howling) with Johnson for White House guests.

LBJ and his Beagle

In 1964, when President Lyndon Baines Johnson lifted his pet beagle by its ears in front of reporters, he enraged animal lovers and animal rights groups around the world. Johnson, a Texan and dog lover, pulled the stunt to make the dog yelp before some visiting businessmen, according to Life magazine, and said “It does them good to let them yelp.” He claimed he didn’t think he was hurting the dog, but Humane Society spokespeople begged to differ, and Johnson caught heat from activists’ public statements and newspaper editorial pages. It was a public barking match that LBJ was not going to win. Today, the photo and the botched response stands as one of the most memorable presidential gaffes of all time.

Richard M Nixon and Checkers

Before Richard M Nixon was vice president, he was hounded by the human press, when he accepted a pet dog named Checkers. Nixon had been accused of improprieties relating to a fund established by his backers to reimburse him for his political expenses. His place was in doubt on the Republican ticket as vice president with General Dwight David Eisenhower, who was on a quest to become our 34th US President. So, Nixon flew to Los Angeles and delivered a half-hour television address, known as Checkers speech, in which he defended himself and attacked his opponents. During his speech he stated that he intended to keep one gift, regardless of the outcome: a black-and-white Cocker-Spaniel that his children had named Checkers.

Donald J Trump and Malice

Former president Donald Trump never had a pet while in the White House. And all the animals in the world now pray, that he’ll never have a chance again. Many pet owners were riled up, when the former president would refer to the human species of women as dogs, horsefaces, pussies and pigs. It seemed to imply that animals and the human species of women were inferior to him. And the more they thought about it; shouldn’t it be the other way around.

And how his human cultists would laugh, when he’d do crude pantomimes, mocking members of the human species due to their mental and physical disabilities, stuttering, and because some are below average height. Something that no animal would ever do. Animals are known to help other animals when they’re hurt and distressed. And, often times, when they are abandoned, regardless of whatever species they are, they adopt each other, making it a wonderful large family of love and acceptance. Animals also defend us from perpetrators. I remember that was something that a few US politicans had sworn an oath to do. But how can all the animals throughout our Republic ever defend us from a powerful army of a human monarchy?

President Jimmy Carter and President Ronald Reagan

And hail to the Commanders and Chiefs, Jimmy Carter, a peanut farmer, and Ronald Reagan, a rancher, who were once adversaries. Eventually they forged a friendship, but not certain if it was because of their pets.

Lieutenant James Earl Carter Jr., USN: Georgia Governor and Our 39th American President

I have one life and one chance to make it count for something… My faith demands that I do whatever I can, wherever I am, whenever I can, for as long as I can with whatever I have to try to make a difference. – President Jimmy Carter.

Jimmy Carter was awarded the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize for work to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development. He was often labeled a dove and a pansy by the right-wing media and politicians, but they never seemed to notice that he was a graduate from the US Naval Academy in 1946. He spent a number of months in the design and development of nuclear propulsion plants for naval vessels. Starting in March of 1953, Lieutenant Carter was preparing to become the engineering officer for the USS Seawolf, one of the first submarines to operate on atomic power. 

However, when his father died in July 1953, Carter resigned from the Navy and returned to Plains, Georgia to manage his parent’s interests. When he saw the condition of their family farm, he realized his family was hopelessly in debt. Jimmy moved his wife, the former Rosalynn Smith, a noted author and humanitarian, and their three young kids, settling into a shack on a dirt road, where the area was almost entirely populated by impoverished African-American families. Through this, Jimmy and Rosalynn saw first-hand how tragic racism really is. They were stunned that African-Americans, many who had protected our nation in the Second World War, were forced to live in such deporable conditions.

Later, the USS Jimmy Carter, the third and final Seawolf-class nuclear-powered fast-attack submarines in the United States Navy, is named in his honor due to his courage in defending the values our nation.

President Carter was fond of pets and also of children. When he was in the neighborhood, he would secretly teach Chrisitan Sunday School to kids. But why did he do it in secret? Once again, Jimmy had remembered the US Constitution, where there was a thing about a separation of church and state, and that our nation does not have a national religion. Jimmy looked at the theocracies of Iran, Sudan and Saudi Arabia and saw that our Founding Fathers were right. There was never a theocracy in world history that was fair to all of its citizens. Later, when our Nation issued a ban of all Muslims entering the US, including American citizens, Jimmy tried to warn us that some politicians were trying to redefine our Republic as a theocracy.

Nonetheless, President Carter marched on, continuing to teach Christian Sunday School in secrecy. But once again, why in secret? Jimmy realized that this would be offensive to our US citizens who might believe in Judaism, Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism and so many more that it’s made the US a rich tapestry of different cultures. Imagine our Republic without beans, maize, pizza, chili pepper, Wiener Schnitzel, sushi, and pumpkin pie and the Mexican Turkey Hen for Thanksgiving. And, most importanly, pet food from England for our animals to survive.

President Jimmy Carter: Born October 1, 1924, reached his 100th birthday on October 1 ,2024, the first time an American president has lived a full century and the latest milestone in a life that took the son of a Depression-era farmer to the White House and across the world as a Nobel Peace Prize-winning humanitarian and advocate for democracy.

Happy Birthday, Jimmy –

America really does love you. Some of us were just too busy to tell you.

The defining image of you that many of us will always remember, is when you’re smiling and wearing you work clothes, holding a hammer and pounding nails, building a home for forgotten Americans who need shelter and unconditional love.

Ronald Wilson Reagan: Governor of California and then the 40th president of the United States

President Reagan was a man who also loved his pets. But even more so, he loved Reaganomics, which meant economic deregulation and cuts in both taxes and government spending.

Reagan left the presidency in 1989 with the U.S. economy having seen a significant reduction of inflation, the unemployment rate having fallen, and the United States having entered its then, longest peacetime expansion. At the same time, the national debt had nearly tripled since 1981 as a result of his cuts in taxes and increased military spending, despite cuts to domestic spending.

As the right-wing Republicans, whose logo is an elephant, were hard on Carter, the left-wing Democrats, whose logo is a donkey, were hard on Reagan, too, due to his harsh cuts to domestic spending. America’s poor and homeless felt abandoned. Even more so with the cut backs on children’s free lunch programs for they really did need to eat in order to survive and be attentive in our nation’s classrooms to learn how to read and write. If you’re someone who never inherited a large amount of money, education is often the only way to succeed financially in life without being a criminal.

Today, Ronald Reagan is often regarded as one of our greatest presidents; but for the poor, the forgotten, ethnic minorities and the U.S. citizens who were condemned to death by a new pandemic called AIDS, he is regarded as something less.

But, on a personal note, I will always admire him, back when he was caught in the illegal Iran-Contra Affair; for he did something that our later despicable, cult messiah would never do. He sat in the Oval Office and looked at America’s cameras directly into their lenses and said: I made a mistake.

Yes, President Reagan loved his pets. In particular his dog, Lucky, a female Bouvier des Flandres, who was given to first lady Nancy Reagan by the 1985 March of Dimes poster child, Kristen Ellis. The dog was named after Mrs. Reagan’s mother, Edith Luckett Davis. Lucky was moved from the White House to Rancho del Cielo during the 1985 Thanksgiving holiday, because she was getting too big for the White House.

The Reagans went dogless in the White House for a while, but Nancy was known to be clairvoyant and didn’t want the First Family to end up like a later president would, a later president who would compare his own stature to her husband, President Ronald Reagan. So, their next new puppy, a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, was named after Rex Scouten, the White House chief usher.

One of Rex’s first official duties was to throw the power switch to light the national Christmas tree in 1985

Because Rex planned to leave his luxurious doghouse at the White House at the end of President Reagan’s second term, he was presented with a new doghouse that was a mini-replica of the White House. Lining the inside was a piece of familiar carpet from Camp David.

Frequently Asked Questions

The animals whose abuse is most often reported are dogs, cats, horses and livestock. Undercover investigations have revealed that animal abuse abounds in the factory farm industry. But because of the weak protections afforded to livestock under state cruelty laws, only the most shocking cases are reported, and few are ever prosecuted. Data on domestic violence and child abuse cases reveal that a staggering number of animals are targeted by those who abuse their children or spouses. There are approximately 70 million pet dogs and 74.1 million pet cats in the U.S. where 20 men and women are assaulted per minute (an average of around 10 million a year). In one survey, 71 % of domestic violence victims reported that their abuser also targeted pets. In one study of families under investigation for suspected child abuse, researchers found that pet abuse had occurred in 88 % of the families under supervision for physical abuse of their children.

What is the most common animal cruelty?

Neglect is the most common type of animal cruelty. Hoarding is a severe form of neglect in which the owner accumulates an excessive number of pets, is unable to provide even minimal care.

Is kicking a dog or cat abuse?

Animal cruelty involves inflicting harm, injuring, or killing an animal. The cruelty can be intentional, such as kicking, burning, stabbing, beating, or shooting; or it can involve neglect, such as depriving an animal of water, shelter, food, and necessary medical treatment.

Can a dog be emotionally abused?

Yes, dogs can experience emotional scars as a result of traumatic events, abuse, neglect, or the loss of a significant person or companion animal in their life.

Are you hitting the animal and causing it pain?

If yes, it’s probably abuse, because hitting an animal doesn’t teach it anything in a way it can understand – it just teaches the animal to be afraid of you and the circumstances in which it’s being hit. A gentle tap to get an animal’s attention is one thing – and that should be tailored to the animal’s capability, so for example a kitten might require a literal finger tap on the flank, while a horse might need a nudge with your heel – but if you’re doing anything that makes the animal yelp or otherwise indicate PAIN, you’ve got it wrong.

Are you withholding food, water or other necessities for more than the duration of a short training session?

If yes, then it’s more like neglect (and is abuse). Although an animal can understand “I didn’t get a treat for what I just did” they are not capable of understanding “I did a bad thing so I don’t deserve my meal.” If the dog doesn’t sit when you ask it to do so, it doesn’t get a treat right then, it should still be fed its normal meal at the normal time.

Are you isolating a social animal away from you or the rest of its social group for more than the duration of a short training session?

Withdrawing attention briefly in order to negatively reinforce a behavior is one thing – turning away from a dog that’s jumping up, for example, until he puts all four feet on the floor. But throwing that same dog into a crate in a back bedroom because he’s jumped up at you, and leaving him there, is again running into the neglect side of things.

How to Heal the Emotional Scars of an Abused Dog

To help an emotionally abused dog, you should first seek veterinary care. It is important to rule out any underlying physical issues and to get a thorough health evaluation. Then slowly and gradually expose the dog to new experiences, people, and other animals in a controlled and positive environment. Encourage the dog’s good behavior with treats, praise, and affection. Avoid using punishment or force-based training methods. Provide a stable and predictable routine: Regular meals, exercise, and plenty of rest can help establish a sense of security and stability. A veterinary behaviorist can help create a tailored behavior modification plan and provide support during the recovery process. Healing takes time and patience. It is important to remain consistent in your approach and to never give up on the dog. Offer the dog plenty of affection, love, and positive reinforcement. Show the dog that they are safe and loved. Remember, healing from emotional abuse is a slow process, but with patience, love, and the right support, many dogs can make a full recovery.

Do dogs get traumatized when you hit them?

Yes, dogs can get traumatized when they are physically punished, such as being hit or kicked. Physical punishment can cause fear, anxiety, and aggression in dogs and can result in long-lasting emotional scars. It can also damage the bond between a pet and its owner and can lead to trust issues. Using physical punishment is not an effective or humane way to train or discipline dogs. Instead, positive reinforcement training techniques, such as rewarding desired behaviors and ignoring undesired behaviors, are more effective and do not cause emotional harm. If you are struggling with training or behavior issues, it is best to consult with a professional dog behaviorist for guidance.

WHAT WE CAN DO TO HELP

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is the largest animal rights organization in the world, with more than 6.5 million members and supporters. PETA exposes animals suffering in laboratories, in the food industry, in the clothing trade, and in the entertainment industry.

Advocating For Animals | Nonprofit For Animals

List of Animal Welfare Nonprofits in Los Angeles | Deep Sweep

We have a moral obligation to report any felon who is abusing an animal, regardless of race, color, creed, religion, wealth and political domination. Feel free to contact Traveling Boy directly **@tr*******.com and we’ll do everything in our power to bring the felon to justice.

If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you; that is the principal difference between a dog and a man.– Mark Twain

Happiness is a warm puppy. – Charles M. Schulz

Animal Trivia

Float like a butterfly and sting like a bee; let’s see how well you do with these 25 Question Trivia Game about Animals

To play the 25 Question Trivia Game about Animals, see below:

First Animal Trivia Set

Are Pigs smart enough to play video games? Name the most intelligent animal in the world? Do Elephants never forget? Is the Grandview rattlesnake the most venomous snake on earth? In The Beatle song, Martha My Dear, is “Bungalow Bill’s Mother,” a code name for “Martha?”

No one will see your answers, except for you.

Second Animal Trivia Set

Is the Giant Rat  invisible when seen in infrared cameras? Is it true that we call a group of Kangaroos a “Kangaroo Court?” Did Winston Churchill say something alarming, which caused Richard Burton to throw his MBE back into Queen Elizabeth, Number Two’s face? How much wood does a woodpecker chuck wood per second? Did the Scottish poet, Robert Byrne, write the poem, “Howl?”

And remember, no one will see your answers, except for you.

Third Animal Trivia Set

Do horses sleep while standing up? How can you tell if your pet dog is dreaming. Can camels go without water for over a month? Panda Bear’s sleep the longest of all animal species. Is the Yakima Yellow Tail the most poisonous critter on earth?

As noted above: No one will see your answers, except for you. And all winners, not suckers and losers, like Trump said about courageous Americans who join the military to defend our way of life, will be awarded prices. And this will be on an honor system; so good luck with that, too! — The T-Boy Staff

The post US Presidents and their Pets: Part III appeared first on Traveling Archive.

The country holding captive  the birthplace of the religion I grew up with, Christianity, of the ethics that shaped me, has withered beyond redemption. It seems hell-bent on withering spirituality throughout the world.

In 1999, I was a guest of Israel, there to write on adventure travel. While traveling at night on camels across the Negev desert to a Bedouin-staffed luxury camp for tourists, news comes of Ehud Barak’s defeat of Benjamin Netanyahu and the Likud party. The guides, members of Bedouin tribes long displaced and discriminated against, were ecstatic. They chattered away on cell phones, hopeful for reforms that might improve their lives. That was not to be.

Shortly after that excitement, I’m in a luncheon in Jerusalem. I’m sitting next to Netanyahu’s outgoing Minister of Tourism, Moshe Katsav. No backwater, this cabinet post. For a time, Barak served simultaneously as both Prime Minister and Minister of Tourism. The post is not just central to bring in income but for propaganda, which is ladled thick on visiting journalists.

I asked Katsav why, instead of arguing with Jordan about which side of the river Christ was baptized on, the countries didn’t join together in joint tourism projects, enlarging the tourism pie.

Even better, I added, why not include the Palestinians? Give them skin in the game and a stake in stability?

Katsav stared at me like I’d just emerged from a twenty year coma.

“The Palestinians, (pause), they are our N-words!”

Katsav didn’t say “N-words”. He said the word. Drawn out, emphasized. No KKK Imperial Wizard could outdo his sneer.

Katsav assumed I’d grasp terms a white American would understand. No concern of insulting African-Americans any more than Palestinians. Or of offending me, someone there on their dime. Scales dropped from my eyes. The supremest racism underpinning Israeli society and policy winked at me.

An outlier? Katsav was later elected President.

At least he didn’t give the common scripted response, “It’s complicated”. It isn’t. It’s never been more complicated than people, even the non-god fearing, waving real estate deeds from God to steal what they coveted of what little Palestinians had left.

Another Minister of Tourism, Rehavam Ze’evi, appointed in 2001 by Ariel Sharon, remained a pal of Netanyahu. He described Palestinians working in Israel as a cancer that should be gotten rid of as if they were lice. He wanted to ethnically cleanse Palestinians from Gaza and the West Bank by making life miserable for them. He envisioned Jordan as part of a Greater Israel.

A proponent of Israel’s strategy of assassinating “potential” terrorists, even calling for the death of Arafat, he later met that fate.

Current Likud Minister of Tourism Haim Katz has long pushed for Israeli colonization in the Gaza Strip and developing tourism in the occupied West Bank, via illegal settlers, measures preventing a Palestinian state. During a prior government post Katz obtained parliamentary immunity on charges of corruption.

Nice crowd, beckoning travelers to the Holy Land.

Spirituality that hasn’t withered runs deep in groups like Jewish Voice for Peace, with whom I had the pleasure of marching on Capitol Hill. Damned impressive, they hold up under despicable insults to their character and identity. As are Code Pink and anyone else who’ve let me string along demonstrating for a ceasefire. Revealing how deeply the fix is in, Nancy Pelosi called for FBI investigations to see if those calling for a ceasefire are doing Putin’s bidding. Honest, Nancy, Putin hasn’t called.

Israel has manipulated America, founded on the separation of church and state and on free expression, into creating a doom loop for our democracy. We do carte blanche funding of an apartheid foreign power which then purchases and threatens both our legislative and executive branches, Federal and state. Would it go over if any other foreign country’s minions publicly announced they’d spend a hundred million dollars to defeat a handful of US Representatives who opposed ethnic cleansing? If they offered bribes of 20 million dollars to people to primary those they want removed?

What about if their US legislative minions pushed to throw our First Amendment rights under the bus by threatening fines of a million dollars and prison sentences of twenty years if one advocates BDS – boycott, divestment and sanctions – for Israel’s violations of international law? That’s what “liberal” Maryland US Senator Ben Cardin tried to pull off in 2017. Chuck Schumer made Cardin head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee after Senator Bob Menendez – Senator Mendacity – another Israeli favorite, crossed too many gold lines. Lately we have the spectacle of legislatures across the country twisting our language so that criticizing Israel and Zionist genocide is equated with anti-semitism. The irony of course is that there is no greater cause of anti-semitism throughout the world than Israel’s actions. No justification for anti-semitism, but impacts are there. As it is now for Americans before the shocked eyes of the world.

Legal pushback didn’t happen when people boycotted apartheid South Africa. The editorial page cry for our First Amendment rights would have been deafening if it were tried. Not loud now. That should terrify us.

The NY Times recently told reporters to mostly shutter the terms “genocide,” “ethnic cleansing,” “occupied territory,” “Palestine” and “refugee camps.”

Orwell looks wiser every day.

Better to support tourism to nations not cowed, that call out Israel’s war crimes and my own country’s tragic hypocrisy. The forced complicity of the parade of depravities we’ve seen is unforgettable and unforgivable. Yes, nothing justifies attacks on innocent civilians, even by the occupied against occupier, even in return for attacks continuously done on Palestinians, including in the West Bank. Should never have happened, even if past non-violent demonstrations were greeted by snipers. Just a line one can’t cross and maintain one’s moral high ground. But most Palestinians, including men, had nothing to do with it. The horrors of collective punishment, including on children, women and other innocents, did not begin after Oct. 7th, despite the illusions of PR machinery. It began with the systematic, long-haul dehumanization and annihilation of a culture and people. I can easily do without the country behind that, as well as its apologists and enablers. I guess that’s something of a personal boycott.

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Henry the K joins the eternal, as does my shame. He’s not squiring Jill St. John nor even holding hands with Hillary, who proudly claimed him as a mentor.

My guilt by association resurfaces, decades after Henry and I hung out together.

It’s 1980. Here I am at F. Scott’s, a hip, upper-crust bar in Georgetown with an art deco motif. Looks like Reagan will win the White House. Winds of change are coming, particularly at über-liberal programs such as Action (Peace Corps, VISTA, etc…), where I’m in the legal office. 

Some occasion has brought my whole office, still wearing suits, to the bar for drinks. I’m with a girlfriend who makes her bread as a torch singer of Cole Porter and George Gershwin standards. She sings in a private nightclub called the Gaslight Club, where old-hand lobbyist types hang out. Rumors of deals cut during card games. The Gaslight’s Gay ’90s motif was legendary in the heyday of LBJ — dark rooms worlds from the see-me-now crowd of the brightly lit F. Scott’s.

I’m feeling no pain. Drinking rock ’em, sock ’em ice cream drinks, the sweet girlie kind that really sneak up on a man. Now I’m in the john, whistling a merry tune and thinking what a bright boy am I, ready to whiz in one of those marvelous marble stalls sticking out from the wall like angel wings, the urinal packed with ice like a weird snow cone.

As I unzip, a man slips into the stall to my right. Nobel Peace Prize winner Henry Kissinger. A spry 57.

Always loathed him. I had a lady pal whose good friend was the widow of a Chilean minister under Allende. The former minister, a foe of Pinochet and an opponent of foreign investment in Chile, was blown up while driving along Washington’s Embassy Row. My friend despises all things Kissinger, who helped usher in Pinochet’s dictatorship.

A great conundrum faces me. I have a chance to symbolically avenge the widow, and so many more, and thrill my friend. All I need to do is power-wash Kissinger’s shiny black left wing tip. With any luck, collateral damage to his left ankle. Easy to act very drunk, being very drunk, and make profound apologies about the accident.

A sudden wobbling of my knees. I know that, whether or not he believes me, Kissinger can get me good. Even if Reagan wasn’t coming to town. Knows people.

But the Peace Prize, what a travesty! Pinochet, murderous jerk. Cambodia. Nixon’s secret plan to end — prolong! — the Vietnam War. Bombing as a campaign strategy. Thumbs-up to massacres in East Timor and Bangladesh, civil wars in Africa, coups in Latin America.

And I didn’t know the half of it. The wink at Argentina’s disappeared. Undermining LBJ’s Vietnam peace talks – treason! Estimates of up to four million dead from his antics. Or more, consider just the fertile ground bombs plowed for Pol Pot. Kissinger lowered the bar for what our too-clever-by-half power players figure they can get away with, sowing seeds of chaos and shattered childhoods. His endorsing pre-emption and regime change in Iraq greased our Forever Wars. How many can claim a posthumous body count? I didn’t know all his somethings wicked coming our way. But I knew enough.

My thoughts race. Is revenge really a dish best served hot? How would the office react? Who cares, I can dine out for years on being the guy who was kicked out of F. Scott’s for pissing on Kissinger’s shoe.

I hold back. Realpolitik pressure builds like a fire hydrant. I so need to pee. I so want to pee on Kissinger’s shoe. I size up the trajectory, ready my aim …

And I stall out. My chilled gaze returns to the ice in my urinal. I hear Henry grunt and zip and he’s finished. With a glance my way and a nod, he steps back. I nod too, but in shame. Does he know how close he came? Does he ever even consider the possibility? Opportunity knocks. I hesitate. Opportunity moves on. I face my moment of truth — and clutch like a Jayhawk in the Final Four. Pissing on his grave wouldn’t be the same. Anyone can, under cover of darkness.

I lived haunted by this spectre, praying for opportunity’s redemptive knock. In cheeky mood, I sometimes sent a recollection of my Kissinger summit to sponsors of his public appearances, imagining Henry’s eyes scanning the crowd, him wary in the can. 

Now Kissinger no longer need heed my sporting notice: Fair warning, Henry. Wear your storm rubbers.

Skip Kaltenheuser is a lawyer & Traveling Boy writer in Washington, DC.

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One reason I joined the National Press Club in 1995 was that on various occasions before Hong Kong’s handover I’d darkened the door of the FCC. I hoped that the NPC’s substantial oblong bar might be cousin to the FCC’s main bar with diverse central casting characters including criminal barristers of the
Rumpole flavour, cargo shippers, pilots, politicians and others seeking what was in the wind as journalists’ tongues loosened, and vice versa.

Though the NPC I joined wasn’t quite as colorful as lingering old-timers described, it still offered intrigues and camaraderie. In The Reliable Source Bar & Grill, a plaque pays tribute to John Prokoff, a bartender before my time whose bone-dry quips included “Let’s get drunk and be somebody” and “Do you want separate glasses?” I did know the late barkeep John Kulawski. Whenever my young kids joined me, they left enriched with coins John fetched from their ears. John, gruff but erudite, turned the bar into a
continuing education.

The club occupies the top two floors of the 14-storey National Press Building in the epicentre of the US capital. When built in 1927 it was Washington’s largest private office building. The club once owned the whole place but lost it after a mismanagement scandal many years ago amid a major renovation. From the club windows one can glimpse the White House over the top of the US Treasury Department. Across the street is the Willard Hotel, to which President Ulysses S Grant, fleeing presidential pressures, strolled for drinks or a meal in the lobby, where he was bedeviled by favor-seekers. Hence, “lobbyist.”

Plenty of lobbyists, with their cousins in public/media relations, haunt the NPC nowadays, a large swathe of the membership. Their higher dues, and the tables they buy out when bosses or clients or officials they’d like to influence address the club as ballroom luncheon speakers, help pay the freight. Speaker line-ups seem to trend more per establishment than when I joined and participated.

Burgers and Bangers

Bangers and mash is not on the bar’s menu. I’ll suggest it when I run into the club’s incoming executive director, Didier Saugy. Previously, we did have the Alferd Packer Burger, named for a cannibal who was the lone survivor of six prospectors trapped by Colorado’s brutal 1873-74 winter. I don’t mean to make too much of this, but Alferd is no longer on the menu, having been replaced by the more homogenised Angus. The loss of Alferd in one’s gullet seems a bellwether for trends impacting the NPC and journalism generally.

Lately, I’ve viewed journalism through the prism of the activist Julian Assange – a media Rorschach test. Many Washingtonians, including journalists, are surprised to hear that Assange has languished for four years in solitary in Belmarsh Prison in London, following seven years of confining asylum in Ecuador’s embassy there. Nils Melzer, former UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, says the treatment of Assange, who is on the autism spectrum, amounts to straightforward torture.

While he was in the Ecuadorean embassy, US intelligence minions spied on Assange, his family, friends and lawyers, and visiting journalists. Mike Pompeo, Koch Industries’ man in Washington who went from Congress representing my home state of Kansas to becoming CIA Director and then Trump’s Secretary of State (and until recently a presidential aspirant), plotted to kidnap or assassinate Assange after Wikileaks revealed the CIA’s goals of controlling people’s smart TVs, browsers, phones and cars. Orwell, anyone?

The Biden Administration’s Department of Justice has continued the Trump Administration’s quest to extradite and prosecute Assange under the 1917 Espionage Act, which was designed to target German operatives during World War I, with a side job of quashing dissent. This is the first time it’s been trained on a journalist or publisher, let alone an Australian who wasn’t even in the US. This prosecution is perilous to domestic and foreign journalists everywhere. Hypocrisy blows Biden’s credibility on press freedom off the moral high ground, which authoritarians eagerly note. For more detail, search “Belmarsh Tribunals”.

Venerable Dan Ellsberg, who during the Vietnam War stunned the world by leaking the Pentagon Papers, told me that prosecuting Assange is the US government’s plan for introducing a UK-style Official Secrets Act, under which journalists could be prosecuted for simply receiving classified information. James Goodale, who ably defended The New York Times in that case, told me the same. It would quash journalists’ attempts to reveal the truth.

Envy and Resentment?

It seems to me that many journalists nowadays can’t identify with this concern. Most will never break a story of that sort, never depend on whistle-blowers that the government seeks to crush. Envy? Resentment? Perhaps. Meanwhile, there’s no end of over-classification by officials to muddy transparency and avoid accountability.

So are there constant drumbeats on mainstream editorial pages and elsewhere? No. On Assange, the NPC – a frequent commenter on foreign oppression of the press – keeps its head insistently sanded. Having pushed the club on this matter for years, I’ve usually encountered a cone of silence. I’ve heard comments from those who should know better such as “What if Assange is a Russian spy?”, or falsehoods repeated with certainty like an unredacted document dump.

Often, the fanciful assertion that Assange isn’t a journalist is trundled out, never mind his stunning record of journalism awards. Brilliantly, Wikileaks enabled his revelations via technical innovations including an electronic dropbox to obtain information anonymously, which is then vetted. My definition of a journalist is simple: anyone who truthfully informs the public of matters impacting their lives. Wikileaks never had to retract anything as untrue.

Caustic attitudes pay testimony to successful propaganda vilifying Assange. It ramped up in 2010 when I saw Assange step into the cross-hairs of fame at a news conference in the club. He presented the shocking Collateral Murder Tape. A helicopter snuff film of a dozen or so Iraqi civilians, including two Reuters employees and a Good Samaritan ad hoc ambulance driver, whose kids were in tow, with a chilling soundtrack by gleeful pilots. It crystallised government lies on war crimes and the conduct of the Forever Wars. Nobody responsible for the attack or the cover-up has been prosecuted.

Political propaganda poured with perpetuity when Wikileaks published (true) emails revealing that Hillary Clinton spoke out of both sides of her mouth regarding Wall Street benefactors, and that the Democratic National Committee undermined democracy, rigging the 2016 primaries against Bernie Sanders.

Some information gatekeepers have judged public enlightenment non-newsworthy if not in service of a higher purpose: say, the election of Hillary. And while avoiding criticism of favoured administrations or political parties, many in journalism otherwise cheer them like high school football teams. Some seem to be self-appointed auxiliary spokespeople for government, aka stenographers. Assange is emblematic of what the mainstream downplays or ignores to avoid roughing up pet political and media narratives.

Assange is bad for business. The Forever Wars confirmed Washington as a company town for the military-industrial complex that President Dwight Eisenhower warned of back in 1960. That influence cannot be overstated, including the weapons advertising largesse that many publications enjoy. It’s the same when it comes to media ownership. For example Jeff Bezos, of Amazon notoriety and owner of The Washington Post, is in hot pursuit of government contracts to manage clouds for intelligence and military agencies.

As the NPC emerges from a long, costly pandemic coma, public trust in media scrapes the shoals. Journalism sinks amid collapsed business models and layoffs. Understandably insecure journalists eye laterals, perhaps PR in arenas that they report on. Many now interpreting the world for us were children or teens during the invasion of Iraq. Most weren’t born until after the Vietnam War. Institutional memory is shot. We’re all cannibals now.

As I write this in May, steadfast NPC obtuseness on Assange remains. Perhaps by publication date that might change. It would be a pleasant, if astonishing surprise.

(This essay first appeared in the July issue of The Correspondent, the quarterly put out by the Hong Kong Foreign Correspondents’ Club)

(Note, bangers and mash is a HKFCC staple sustaining many scribes, Didier is the former manager of the HKFCC and new exec. dir. at the NPC, hence the reference).

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Illustrations: Nancy Ohanian

There’s been much media commentary related to the 20th anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, widely regarded as one of the greatest foreign policy blunders in history. 

I’m going to go into the wayback machine for my take on it, below, a piece written in 2007 for the late Gatsby Magazine, one of the international magazines I wrote Letters from Washington columns for. It’s a stab at divining the self-righteous mentality that popped open Pandora’s Box with the March 20th, 2003 invasion of Iraq under the false pretenses of Saddam Hussein harboring weapons of mass destruction and being in league with Al-Qaeda. This was amplified by journalists and politicians who should have known better, some of whom likely did.

As some predicted, WMD’s were never found, something George W. Bush treated with hilarity at a Radio and Television Correspondents Association Dinner a year later.

Pandora’s lid has never closed. The ongoing staggering blows to humanity still cascading from the invasion of Iraq and related post-9/11 cultural mayhem can be examined via recent studies of the Watson Institute at Brown University, including this summary, about the Costs of War which can only shock and awe, and dismay. Don’t just glance at it, spend time with it. Four or five million dead from direct and indirect impacts, by any measure a rambling holocaust. A federal price tag over $8 trillion that reordered our national priorities. The harms inflicted on our soldiers.

Many of the journalists and pundits interpreting the world for us now were children or teens at the time of that invasion. A far larger number, including many contemporary politicians, weren’t even born at the time of the Vietnam War, and many aren’t likely sure of why Dan Ellsberg set the gold standard of moral nobility, as described by Patrick Lawrence. Anyone fortunate to know Dan, even if just through his deeds and words, is elevated by that lucky break.

Some of the discussions on the anniversary of the invasion of Iraq were framed by what lessons have been learned, or as the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace put it in this thoughtful March 7th seminar, Remembering and Misremembering the Iraq War. From the audience, I ventured the comment that we must not have learned much as we’re still trying to prosecute, imprison and destroy whistleblowers who try to enlighten us about the Forever Wars and other government deceptions. In particular, the disgraceful prosecution of journalist/publisher Julian Assange continues at this very moment. A nutshell on the Assange matter is here.

Want more detail on why a foreign journalist is being prosecuted by the US under the 1917 Espionage Act, the first such prosecution of any journalist, and why though never convicted of a crime Assange has been in London in solitary confinement for four years in a Belmarsh Prison dungeon? Here’s a number of excellent speakers at the Belmarsh Tribunal in DC, held at the National Press Club, of which there was not a peep in the mainstream press, including The Washington Post, despite luminaries including Jeremy Corbin, Noam Chomsky and Daniel Ellsberg.

A strong perspective on the invasion comes from Joe Lauria, editor of Consortium News, describing his experience reporting on the run-up to the invasion, the complicity of most of mainstream media and the undermining of those not joining in the cheerleading. Also insightful, Parker Molloy’s account of where some of those cheerleaders are now. One big lesson, if you’re going to screw up big, be sure it’s in tandem with the screw-ups of Washington’s elites.

I’d have bet big that George’s image was deservedly irreparable. I’d have lost. He’s been rehabilitated by Washington elites, first and foremost by Democrats. Go figure. Perhaps some fear raising the bar.

George whiles away his post-presidency with a paintbrush. Subjects include immigrants. Thus far, the number of war refugees and displaced persons after the invasion of Iraq is 38 million. I wonder if George’s canvases ever scream at him.

The Howdy Countdown: A Look Back

Iraq isn’t the only cliff George W. Bush ran America off. He has collapsed the moral high ground America
once stood on in the eyes of the world. Consider German citizen Khaled el-Masri: kidnapped while
vacationing in Macedonia, secretly imprisoned in Afghanistan and then tortured for months. Oops,
wrong guy. He can’t get compensation, can’t even get an apology. Everyone now knows what happened,
but the Bush administration trots out the State Secrets Doctrine, claiming Masri’s day in court
would strike a blow to American security. Bush’s minions on the Supreme Court denied hearing the
case, effectively giving el-Masri no legal recourse in the US. Specific evidence that might reveal real
secrets can be shielded from the public. Any leader worth his salt would say “Here’s your money, we’re
terribly sorry, and the people responsible will be called to account.” Protect the innocent, protect the
weak. Not with Bush in charge.

Masri isn’t alone in such grievances of kidnapping and torture of the innocent. Other draconian tales
are surfacing, as is the woeful reality that the Bush administration has long been talking out both sides
of its mouth about what constitutes torture and what will be refrained from. Moreover, the number of innocents in America’s Cuba, Guantanamo Bay, is anyone’s guess. For them, Bush crushed the concept
of habeas corpus – the right to challenge unlawful detention – the foundation of legal rights for the individual. He claims this bedrock of individual rights would clog the courts.

Watching America’s daily train wreck, observers beyond US borders still drift into shock at the re-election
of our dear leader. They are more understanding of the 2000 election, figuring it loosely defined. They
shouldn’t be. All Americans ever needed to know about Fearless Leader’s potential for rationalizing
mayhem was already known back in 2000 and is reduced to just a single number: 152. That’s the number
of executions Bush presided over as Governor of Texas. A nationwide record in the last century, it was
recently edged by the current Texas governor, Rick Perry. But Perry needed not just Texas bloodlust;
he also needed more years in office to best Bush’s grisly accomplishment.

To top the list of chilling details, lawyers who either had been or were later disbarred or sanctioned,
defended a third of those executed under Bush. In nearly another third of those executed, defence lawyers presented no evidence or merely a single witness during sentencing. Time and again, sleeping
through trial, showing up drunk, lack of preparation – no problem for these guardians of justice. When
some Texas counties sought even a limited public defender system to assist those who could not afford
counsel, Bush vetoed a bill that would do that. Is the Texas horror show that Bush presided over
coming into focus?

Studies indicate that only 5% of those predicted by experts to be violent in the future actually commit 
violent acts in prison. But Texas prosecutors frequently  used testimony from psychiatrists who never examined the defendants, yet claim with deadly certainty they would commit violent crimes in the future. Texas crime labs have had their fair share of scandals including faked autopsies, false lab tests and bungled DNA. A special prosecutor concluded that one popular expert witness for prosecutors, a doctor, had falsified evidence in at least thirty cases.

Racial bias? Of course. If you’re a minority accused of killing a non-Hispanic white, you’re far more likely
to die. Perhaps this descends from Texas traditions of lynching, and if that’s a cheap shot, so be it. But
there’s never been a groundswell of sympathy for those living on Texas death row, averaging over a
decade of 23 hours a day in a non-airconditioned cell measuring 1.5 x 2.7 meters. Sadism, some might
say, but never a consideration for clemency.

It speaks volumes that Alberto Gonzales was Bush’s pardon attorney for 57 of Bush’s 152 executions.
This practitioner of Gonzo law, you may recall, was recently Bush’s Attorney General of the US. At one
point, the White House floated trial balloons to see if he could be a viable contender to the US Supreme
Court. More recently he clutched the heart of a scandal involving the dismissal of US Attorneys
who were reluctant to engage in unjustifiable prosecutions aimed at helping Republican election
efforts. 

Shortly before Gonzo was shown the gate, Bush was pushing legal changes that would allow
Gonzales to expedite state executions across the nation. Alan Berlow, for “The Atlantic” magazine, did
journeyman work examining the briefings Gonzales gave before Texas executions. They reveal Gonzales
to be nothing more than a cog in Bush’s well-oiled state death machine. His abbreviated briefings left
out critical information and were usually presented in a half hour or less on the day of the execution.
The only person spared execution was an alleged serial killer who claimed credit for every murder
he could, and when even the prosecutors said he didn’t kill the person he was sentenced to death for,
Bush had no choice, claiming that in every trial, the state “adequately answered innocence or guilt” in a
“fair trial”.

Leaving that grim hilarity aside, I asked a death penalty appeals expert, Professor David Dow of the
University of Houston Law Center, if Bush fell short on his death penalty review duties. Dow says the only
question Bush asked was whether the condemned had gone through the courts, and that’s “ridiculous.”
There was never a thought to procedural barriers that prevented a fair hearing of the merits of a defendant’s claims. Moreover, says Dow, “The standard for considering clemency goes beyond what a court could examine in standard proceedings. It includes matters that have happened since the time of trial, including what the inmate has done with his life in prison.” There’s no evidence Bush ever considered such matters. He twisted the whole concept of clemency. The exception to this, of course, is the clemency he granted Dick Cheney’s Chief of Staff, ScooterLibby.”

Dow believes innocent people – not just of state of mind or circumstance, but of the actual
crime – were executed under Bush. For example, before Gary Graham was executed, two out of three
eyewitnesses had said he didn’t commit the murder. It’s sobering to consider that a fourth of all convictions shown to be false by DNA testing also involved false confessions. False confessions are not just made by the mentally ill or retarded, and one doesn’t even have to be tortured. It’s terrifying that some legal experts believe the number of innocent people on death row across the country may be as high as six in a hundred.

In 2000, as depressing as it was to know something of Bush’s execution fetish and watch him get the
Republican nomination, it was more dismaying to watch the Democratic Party. When that fellow who
had two out of three eyewitnesses claim he was innocent was executed, Vice President Al Gore – lately
of Nobel Peace Prize fame – took the opportunity to express his support for the death penalty despite
the inevitability of innocent people being executed. 

It reminded me of the sinking feeling I had when 1992 presidential primary candidate Bill Clinton, then Governor of Arkansas, demonstrated he was tough on crime by returning to his state for the execution of a man so brain damaged that, at his last meal, he put aside his pecan pie for later.

Just as Bush still cows many opponents by accusing them of being soft on terror, the mere fear of
being accused of being soft on crime was enough to prompt opponents to avert their gaze from the
abomination that Bush rode in on. They didn’t yell that we must at least consider his execution milestone
and with it, the prospect that George W. Bush – this born-again Christian, this compassionate conservative – was morally challenged. It is to their eternal shame that they lacked either the courage or the ability to articulate the obvious. He was reckless with life, caring nothing for justice or mercy – only political expediency – then why would Bush worry about the prospect of a collateral damage of a few hundred thousand innocent Iraqis?

So, now we are all prisoners of Fearless Leader. Every day, we make a mark on our collective cell
wall, knowing that we will get no time off for good behaviour. At least we know how long our sentence
will last. Meanwhile, the dreams of those less lucky – whether in Guantanamo or on a trip to the exotic
lands of extraordinary rendition – have nothing left but to compete with the worst nightmares of Orwell
and Kafka.

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Best Pride Month Ever:

• Prayer protected
• Filibuster protected
• Gun rights protected
• Federalism protected
• Unborn lives protected

These are familiar conservative talking points, not that there’s anything wrong with that. I thought I’d calmly reflect on these issues, point by point. On the other hand, maybe I’ll start a fire. We’ll see.

Prayer protected

Well, yes, maybe. But it might depend on who you’re praying to. Or more precisely, who you are praying in front of. The Supreme Court ruled it’s judiciously cool for a white conservative Christian coach to kneel ostentatiously in prayer in the middle of a football field after a game on school grounds, gathering as many like souls together as he, and they, wish.

Do you think non-Christian players feel any peer pressure to conform to this religious ritual, especially in a majority Christian community? Could there be anything coercive about this?

I wonder how the Justices would have ruled if the coach was a Muslim who chose to engage in Islamic prayer on the field with his players, prayer rugs and all, bowing to Mecca? Is that particular prayer on public school property protected by the Court ruling? Do I want my Christian son exposed to this? And oy vey, shall we protect a Jewish coach who conducts a prayer of gratitude to God for his blessings, on the field, along with his players? Maybe a Buddhist meditation, all in the lotus position, quietly chanting on the sidelines? (Buddhists aren’t especially demonstrative, after all.)

Does the Supreme Court ruling really protect “prayer” in America? I wonder…

Filibuster protected

Again, yes, but… The filibuster? Seriously? No one likes the filibuster. It’s not mentioned in the constitution and it wasn’t part of the Founding Fathers’ vision of the U.S. Senate. It is, in fact, according to most congressional experts, the single worst feature of Senate procedure. It came into being as a result of an unfortunate accident of history due to an obscure Senate rule based on an 18th Century English law regarding parliamentary discourse. It allowed a member to speak on the floor without limitations, and it is now used exclusively to delay or block a vote by the opposite party.

There is nothing sacred, traditional, or “American” about the filibuster. If you’re a democrat or republican in the majority in the Senate, you hate the filibuster. It messes with your ability to pass legislation, to perform the will of the people. If you’re in the minority, and you want to assert powers far beyond any granted to you by the constitution, you cling to it like a life raft on the Titanic! Our system is based on “majority rule,” not “Super majority rule.”

I would think we’ve all had enough of folks obstructing a legislative assembly, whether they accomplish it through the filibuster, or by insurrection.

Gun rights protected

Yes indeed, the more protection the better! Right? But oh my goodness! Be careful what you wish for, America. White nationalists and mentally unstable teenagers open-carrying handguns and military grade assault weapons where you shop, eat and play? How lovely, and how very Second Amendment-y. Most folks fighting hard for unrestricted gun rights did not anticipate that these very rights would apply equally to the teeming mobs of unruly minorities and unwelcome immigrants that they are so afraid of and believe they need to protect themselves from! Moreover, what about the public health and safety of all of us, our First Amendment rights and freedoms to peacefully assemble and to speak without fear of violence? I’m sure the Founding Fathers would be delighted to see children today slinging assault weapons over their shoulders as they head to the mall.

This isn’t exactly what James Madison intended when he proposed “A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.” There was no standing American army at that time so State militias were essentially the national defense. Hence, the Second Amendment. Tell me, who needs this well-regulated militia now?

A significant majority of American gun owners across the political spectrum, from the Left to the Right, are very much in favor of the “well-regulated” part, and support extensive background checks on gun purchasers, raising the age for gun purchases to 21, and enforcing red flag laws.

Shouldn’t we all?

Federalism protected

Federalism? OK, I hear you. Big HUH? What the hell is federalism? And who cares? Good point. Well, I care. That’s all I’ve got. Here’s one definition:

Federalism is a mixed or compound mode of government that combines a general government (the central or “federal” government) with regional governments (provincial, state, territorial, etc.) in a single political system, dividing the powers between the two.

This is essentially our American government. So I have a question. Who is protecting federalism, and from what? Is federalism under siege? Are federalists being attacked in the streets like racial minorities, or in their workplaces, like Congress people? Maybe it’s the Federalist Society, as usual, feeling victimized?

The Federalist Society makes its case for an originalist interpretation of the constitution, and there is, in fact, disagreement with that idea. This means adhering to the constitution precisely as the federalists believe our Founders intended exactly at the time they wrote the document. There is opposition to that idea inasmuch as many others in fact believe it goes against the Founding Fathers intention that in order to survive and remain relevant the constitution must grow and evolve and change with the times. There is healthy debate between originalism and living constitutionalism, but that argument has almost nothing to do with federalism, particularly as it was originally articulated.

Federalism simply maintains that the “middle ground”, as James Madison conceived it, provide equal power and responsibilities to the central, or “federal” government, and to the states, or the “people.” From the outset theory and practice frequently collided. There has always been robust conflict between federal and state government legal jurisdiction and we have plenty of lawyers available to keep those battles going on forever. There’s money in them thar bills! More importantly, we live in a democratic republic and it’s a messy business. Our challenge, as citizens and voters, is not to let our country slide into authoritarianism.

Our fragile republic has teetered on the edge many times throughout history, as it does now. The protections enshrined in our constitution might find challenges in the arms of federalists, but they would flail hopelessly under authoritarian rule, and they would not survive totalitarianism. Let’s not go down this path.

Unborn lives protected

OK. Watch out here. Yes, the Supreme Court tossed out the constitutionally protected rights of women to make their own reproductive choices. This is a deeply sensitive issue, controversial, even violently so, and with little apparent opportunity for compromise. I always supported the position that abortion should be safe, legal, and rare. But I am only prepared to make that argument medically, and morally, not religiously. I believe a woman has a right to choose what she does with and to her own body, especially a pregnant 10-year old rape victim.

Of course, for many people, this is not the point.

We come to the issue of “unborn lives.” This is a very charged phrase, and it is a powerfully effective way to frame the issue from the religious standpoint. I do not question the genuine beliefs and passions of those who righteously choose the religious argument, those who actually know and care what they’re talking about when they invoke the “sanctity of life.” No one on either side of the issue will ever win the argument over whether or not a fetus at any particular stage of development is an actual life possessing equal, or even more rights, than the woman carrying it.

My simple, and not particularly original thought, is to suggest we all follow our own beliefs, our own consciences, our own adherence to religion or science on this issue. That we pray with compassion for the moral outcomes of each and every decision a woman and her family make about terminating a pregnancy. And let’s not bully anyone, by laws or coercion, into making a life-altering decision, for better or worse, a decision whether or not to have that baby.

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As for paying the price for the insurrection, all power rests with the DOJ. You want to have faith in Merrick Garland and his prosecutors to do the right thing, not just to bring this gangster sociopath to justice, but also to prevent any future Trumps from trying to pull this stuff off again.

What troubles me in the long run is the number of elected Republicans who continue to suck up to their disgraced former president, and continue to raise prodigious sums of money, just as Trump does, and even more disturbingly, the loyal unflinching Trump cult, those millions who continue to support, even adore this man and what he represents.

I search for signs the tide is turning and we are creeping back from the brink, re-engaging with democracy and rejecting the tyrannical minority rule of the radical right. Bring back moderation, thoughtfulness, maturity, kindness, generosity, courage, patriotism, fairness, truth, and strength – the best of our political system, Republicans and Democrats alike.

That is my prayer for America.

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The morning of April 5th, 2010, I attended the Wikileaks news conference at the National Press Club. Afterwards, my stomach felt like a lead ball. Assange presented the July 12, 2007 attack by two US Apache helicopters, firing 30mm cannon on civilians in an Iraqi suburb, most clearly unarmed and exhibiting no hostilities. Dead included two Reuter’s journalists. One clearly carried a camera. Unarmed men were killed trying to rescue a seriously wounded Reuter’s employee. A slain rescuer’s two children in their destroyed van were grievously wounded. The cavalier comments of the pilots as they filmed are terrifying. How many they killed is unclear because families lived in a building targeted when unarmed men entered it. Estimates range from 12 to over 18. The Army’s story to Reuters was less than candid. Reality descended when Chelsea Manning provided Wikileaks with the tape.

Millions viewed the “Collateral Murder Tape“as well as interviews with one of the soldiers who rescued the children – Ethan McCord recounts how it impacted him, and the wider PTSD forever wars inflict on our soldiers. In our fog of war reliable count of the hundreds of thousands of civilian casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan remains elusive. Those who prefer such dark reveals remain buried see Assange as someone to destroy.

US military budgets remain on crescendo. The world’s top five arms dealers, and twelve of the top twenty-five, are American. Assange is bad for business.

“Someone’s not going to like this” was predictable. Assange stepped into the crosshairs of fame, targeted by powerful disinformation systems. Politicians and media pundits, some of the latter still joined at the hip with America’s military/intelligence/industrial complex, chimed in. Some called Assange a traitor – never mind he’s Australian – and high-tech terrorist, even calling for his assassination. So dark was the picture painted that even sympathetic writers feel obliged to begin with “Whatever you think of Assange…”

When Wikileaks revealed the DNC gamed the 2016 Democratic Party primaries, the punditry judged democratic derailments not newsworthy when the higher good was resistance to Trump.

Distortions linger. How many know Assange sought Pentagon and State Department help in redacting sensitive information, and was refused? That he worked diligently with newspapers to determine information that should be held back, until a newspaper editor published an access password that let everyone pull everything? Or that Robert Mueller found no evidence connecting Assange and Russia? That Paul Manafort never met with Assange in Ecuador’s embassy in London? Or that no harm was caused to anyone in other countries who was working with the US government? Media ran faster with narratives ripping Assange than questioning or correcting them.

Claiming Assange is outside publishing boundaries is a conceit that who, what, when, where, why and how requires formal training, or an official imprimatur. Never mind the international journalism awards Wikileaks quickly garnered, the uncovered bedrock for important stories that enabled accolades to news organizations building on Wikileaks revelations.

A decade ago Daniel Ellsberg, who exposed government lies about the Vietnam War by leaking the Pentagon Papers, told me government’s objective going after him was a UK-styled Official Secrets Act that undermines First Amendment protections. Beyond criminalizing leaking classified materials, it would criminalize seeking and publishing them.

I recently asked James C. Goodale, who defended the NY Times in that case, if that’s still the aim. “Yes,” Goodale says, “closing the circle, prosecuting those who receive and publish leaks. The wild over-classification of documents systematically confuses confidentiality with national security, deterring finding out and revealing what government does. It’s already put a chill on journalists covering the military establishment, and leaks are drying up. Assange engaged in journalistic endeavors.” Goodale is alarmed that despite overwhelming recognition of this by international journalist and human rights organizations, American media remains mostly comatose regarding the peril.

It remains illegal to classify information “to conceal inefficiency, violations of law, or administrative error; to prevent embarrassment to a person, organization, or agency.” Presumably that includes war crimes. Yet the secretive among us are classifying tens of millions of items a year, a perpetual fog machine.

Despite the Obama Administration’s unprecedented pillorying of whistleblowers who revealed government wrongdoing, including CIA torture, it chose not to pursue Assange because of challenges disentangling him from papers like the NY Times that used his revelations. The Trump Administration jumped that line. The Biden Administration follows.

Relevance is constantly refreshed, such as by all the noble pronouncements on protecting journalism and freedom of expression, including from the Biden Administration, on World Press Freedom Day, ignoring applicability to Assange. And now there is the bellwether of government secretly obtaining reporters’ cell phone records, presumably to determine sources. Another, in May drone whistleblower Daniel Hale was jailed months ahead of his July sentencing. Grind the sources down.

The importance of Assange’s effort to inform the public of what the powerful in government and commerce choose to keep hidden from them is underscored by trends in media ownership. With the purchase of Tribune Publishing by Alden Global Capital, hedge funds now control half of American daily local newspaper circulation. The vultures among them shrivel staff and investigative resources.

When media companies throw down partisan preferences, they ignore, minimize or spin stories that don’t support their narratives. They avoid ruffling the stove-piped consumers they cultivate. They are bipartisan in one regard, being ever mindful of the industries that advertise heavily with them, or in which they have financial interests.

Corporate investors and board members often have multiple interests beyond enlightening the public. Take BlackRock, one of the Wall Street outfits that own large swaths of the NY Times. It’s heavily invested in defense companies, and has increasing interests abroad, including China and Saudi Arabia. Many owners certainly have reasons not to antagonize government. Jeff Bezos, owner of the Washington Post, has been seeking Pentagon contracts for Amazon worth billions. He now seeks a $10 billion dollar bailout for his Blue Origin space company.

Not that journalists laboring in a wobbling, insecure industry pay close attention to the interests of those buttering their bread when deciding what ink to spill. Just that Assange is handy for bringing important stories to media that might get them the attention that should be paid.

Pursuing Assange demonstrates collapsing ideals of justice. There is the specter of government attorneys claiming the First Amendment doesn’t apply to foreign journalists and non-US citizens. Authoritarian regimes oppressing journalists applaud when America dissipates protection of speech.

London’s long extradition hearing gave Assange the Hannibal Lecter treatment. He was in a glass cage, often incommunicado with his lawyers. Assange is on the autism spectrum. The UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, Nils Melzer, says what Assange endures is psychological torture.

“Violations of due process revealed by hearing testimony, including spying on Assange’s meetings with his lawyers and journalists by a security firm working with US intelligence officials, even discussing kidnapping or poisoning Assange, should shock any judicial conscience,” says Goodale. It is inescapable that some prefer Assange dead. “Why?” ought to occupy the minds of investigative journalists.

The hearing’s January outcome echoes nightmares of Orwell and Kafka. The British judge said nothing protecting press freedom. Instead, she refused extradition because Assange might commit suicide in draconian US prisons. Then she put him not in house arrest but back in isolation in Prison Belmarsh, notorious for brutality and suicide. There Assange sits, as he has for two years, as the U.S appeals.

President Biden seeks to end decades of war in Afghanistan. Chances of success there were dashed by the horrid aftermath of the invasion of Iraq. Though Biden’s been mercurial describing his support of that invasion, it’s hard to imagine regret doesn’t weigh heavy. Consider that had Wikileaks been operable prior to the invasion, lies about WMD’s and Al-Qaeda alliances might have been exposed, preventing that tragic opening of Pandora’s Box.

If America truly values an informed public, the persecution of Julian Assange must end.

Note:

The essay above is an expanded version of one in the (hyperlink ‘LA Progressive‘. That publication belongs to a ‘Assange defense coalition‘ which with the ‘Courage Foundation‘ is supportive of Julian Assange and of the current month-long US tour by Assange’s father and brother, John and Gabriel Shipton. Related panel discussions, with an impressive diversity of knowledgeable participants across eighteen cities, can be followed here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLd_E8AUuP7bYlYt6gkVgkraCjqH99o2kc and also at ‘Consortium News‘. Those wishing to understand the issues surrounding the Assange case, unfiltered by often conflicted media organizations, should indulge in at least one of the tour offerings.

I attended one of the informative June 13th ‘panels in Washington, DC‘, ably moderated by Marianne Williamson, (tech problems end about 18 minutes in). Despite the relevance to all things Washington, local media like the Washington Post managed to avert their gaze.

A quick hit, a letter to President Biden’s Dept. of Justice from two dozen international journalism and human rights organizations can be seen (hyperlink: “freedom press“. Let me also recommend this recent interview of the always agile Daniel Ellsberg on (hyperlink: “Democracy Now“, one of three intriguing segments, including a great refresher on the Pentagon Papers case. That’s a saga that much of media appears to have tossed into a memory hole, next to a recognition of the danger the Assange prosecution poses for journalism and our democracy.

END

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Are you mourning this year’s lack of Carnival’s spiritual cleanse, its satirical sorting of society’s woes to give us perspective? I am. And so I retreat now to past frolics. It’s hard to overstate how rotten the past year has been, in so many ways, or the dim prospects it left us, as we await whatever next escapes Pandora’s Box. The shakeups underpinned by carnivals around the world, with their myriad styles and cultural melting pot histories, would be damn welcome now. But as they’d be world class superspreaders, we must make do with echos, such as New Orleans refugees in my DC neighborhood paying homage by decorating their houses, and more robust statements throughout homes in New Orleans, where there’s no shortage of Mardi Gras artifacts and artisans.

Below is a past take that imparts a bit on the roots of Carnival, and reprises a musing on the potential of Washington, DC as a target-rich Carnival city. It ricochets off the 2012 election, which then seemed the heights of improbable political folly. Little did I know it was merely bedrock for the jaw-droppers to come. I thought of taking a stab at what an imaginary Washington Carnival would look like this year. My circuits quickly overloaded. But you can put your imagination to work. The 800-pound orange gorilla in the room, and his gang of grifters, presents a smorgasbord of choices. How to satirize a President so beyond the pale he ought to present a plausible Covid brain-fog defense? Picture him in a medieval plague mask. Or an executioner’s hood. Serial killers are where you find them. The real costs of breaking down government oversight in every way possible at the command of looney Koch-minded operatives. And the tragedy-tinged grand finale of the stop-the-steal con. Challenging, but I guarantee that when they are given the opportunity, Carnival satirists around the world will be skinning America alive, so perhaps we dodged a hail of Carnival bullets. The Biden Administration, already hamstringing itself by whittling down promised $2,000 relief/stimulus checks, looks ready to line up new themes. Ah, Joe. Designated OMB hitter Neera Tanden, a gift of the Clintons that keeps on giving, so deep in so many big-money pockets, emblematic of an influx of people into Washington willing to do anything, advocate anything, for money. And there is so much money. So much of it dark and well-laundered. The bundlers lining up at the revolving door. Legions of them as eager as Eric Holder to profitably insulate Wall Street from consequences as it sets the country up for another fall. Check out the art of Nancy Ohanian, for a wealth of float concepts.

Everything old is new again. Washington’s potential never runs dry. Tens of millions in dark money promoting Supreme Court Justices like Gorsuch, Kavanaugh and Barrett, as if in a John Grisham plot. The collapsing pillars of media narratives that Putin dictates the results of multi-billion dollar elections. Relax, Putin remains a prime target as an underwear poisoner. Media scampering on to the QAnon freak show. And in Congress! Fascist Proud Boys as the Lost Boys. Guns, guns and guns. Missing foreign influence? Netanyahu and the Saudis, anyone? The world’s richest union buster unleashing his corporate opinion stylists on progressives like Bernie, undermining Medicare-for-All, even as the pandemic loomed. How will they pay for it? should be their epitaphs. The calculated media stovepipes thrashing about without their profitable Donald, the orange-hued goose who laid their golden eggs. The Kafkaesque plight of Julian Assange reaping the whirlwind after daring to expose the horrors of forever wars. And the tandem future of investigative journalism. National intelligence alumni morphing into cable media talking heads with undisclosed clients. Monopolies as far as the eye can see. Political correctness on crack. In newsrooms! The DNC and the Lincoln Project, bipartisan grifters together again. Mitch and Chuck. Nancy as a vendor — ice cream cake for the masses! Renegade cops as unaccountable Amokiteers. Compounding climate catastrophes. Oh, and our ham-handed handling of wild and free-roaming microbes. Bellwethers warning of other microbes to come knocking. So much to cleanse from our souls. Let your imaginations wonder, what Carnival might gift us when our Carnival world is finally released from pandemic hibernation. Let’s hope America can take a joke, because Carnival will be coming for us.

Read Skip Kaltenheuser’s Carnival Beckons: A Carnival Musing for 2013

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